David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page - Site Awards and Honors

New York Times
February 2012

An exhaustive collection of information by a writer with "a deep and enduring passion for Dickens"

Surfing the Net with Kids
February 2010

David Perdue’s fan page is dedicated to enhancing "the reader’s experience, providing background on Dickens, his work, and the times in which he lived." He's successful on all counts. Visit for Dickens Fast Facts, summaries of each of his novels, a cross-linked list of 400 characters created by Dickens, a look at Dickens's London, a timeline, and a glossary that defines terms from Victorian English that you probably don’t know. "Blacking - shoe or boot polish. As a child Dickens was employed at Warren’s Blacking factory."

Association of American Geographers - Best Places Online
April 2005

See both the 'Dickens London' and 'Dickens London Map' pages on David Perdue's beautifully designed Dickens web site. 'Dickens London' uses descriptions of nineteenth century London from Dickens' writings to allow readers to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the old city. The interactive 'Dickens London Map' leads to descriptions from the 1879 Dictionary of London by Charles Dickens, Jr., and information and maps from epidemiologist Dr. John Snow, author of the famous cholera map.

PBS
December 2003

A great place to immerse yourself in the world of Charles Dickens

Education World
May 2002

This site is a great overview of the life and times of Charles Dickens. There is a lot of material here and it is covered very well. Visitors will find a biography, plot summaries for the novels, explanations of the characters, original illustrations, and a discussion of the artist who created them, time lines that place Dickens in historical context and much more. Information about 19th-century London is available along with an interactive map. Users can click on a location on the map to see how that particular place relates to Dickens's works. Included are a bibliography and a categorized list of links to more information on the Web. Be sure to check out the interesting sidebar information.

Education on the Internet
April 2002

David Perdue's impressive website provides a comprehensive account on the life and work of Charles Dickens. The site includes a detailed biography of Dickens by David Cody, notes on his complete work and a compendium of his characters. There is also a timeline, an interactive map of 19th century London, an article on Dickens' journalistic career and a message board where you can post questions on Dickens.

Big, beautiful tribute to Dickens

Suite101.com
June 2001

Charles Dickens himself would be proud of this site and all the information it contains about him, his literature, and the London of his day. It's probably the best Dickens site to be found.

NetSurfer Digest
October 2000

Great Expectations Met at This Dickens Site

Want to talk to Charles Dickens about social reform? You can, sort of. You can ask an expert on the famous writer, or explore Dickens's London with an interactive map. Speaking of Victorian London, Dickens biographer Peter Ackroyd said, "If a late 20th-century person were suddenly to find himself in a tavern or house of the period, he would be literally sick - sick with the smells, sick with the food, sick with the atmosphere around him." (Thank god for vanilla air freshener.) From the gruesomeness of the city ("Until the second half of the 19th century London residents were still drinking water from the very same portions of the Thames that the sewers were discharging into") to his journalism and writing career, all of Dickens's cultural influences and influential achievements can be found at this site. Check out Chuck.

The Scout Report
September 2000

Created by Dickens aficionado David Perdue, this site offers concise introductory information on a wide variety of Dickens-related topics. Users of the site can browse short synopses of Dickens's novels, or view an alphabetical directory of many of the author's noteworthy characters. One section of the site discusses artists who contributed illustrations to Dickens's works; another features a selection of timelines to help readers situate Dickens historically. Dickens' London includes an interactive map of the city which allows users to click on various locations and learn how they figure into Dickens's works, and Dickens & Christmas features tidbits like a plum pudding recipe and a modern diagnosis of Tiny Tim's illness. Links throughout the site lead to outside sources of information, and a Dickens on the Web page collects and categorizes the links for users seeking more thorough scholarly information on the author and his works. This site does not attempt to provide every detail in its treatment of Dickens, but its broad scope offers a very nice introduction to the life and works of this important English author.

Sunday London Times
March 12, 2000

This vast site is one man's labour of love - David Perdue, who works for the US Geological Survey by day. It gives an absorbing, if American, overview of Dickens's life and work, with a timeline of his life, a glimpse of Victorian England and background on the original illustrators of his novels. There is a glossary of such deliciously named characters as Bumble, Sweedlepipe, Honeythunder, Pumblechook, Podsnap and Muddlebranes; links to author biographies; the complete works online; and extracts from Dickens's journals. In 1842, at the height of his popularity, he crossed the Atlantic to see America, but returned disappointed: "This is not the republic I came to see; this is not the republic of my imagination." Don't miss the clever interactive map of Dickens's London.

Invited to the Dickens Bicentenial Ceremony at Westminster Abbey and attended February 7, 2012	Acknowledged in Ruth Richardson's book Dickens and the Workhouse February 2012
Mentioned in the special features of the new Blu-ray release of the 60th anniversary of the 1951 A Christmas Carol November 2011	Listed as a resource in Gill Tavner's Dickens for Children series November 2011
Elected to the Board of the American Friends of the Charles Dickens Museum January 2011	Worked with the Charles Dickens Museum and the American Friends of the Charles Dickens to create the American Friends of the Charles Dickens Museum Web site December 2010
Named Best of the Web for A Tale of Two Cities by Shmoop April 2010	Named Best of the Web for Great Expectations by Shmoop April 2010
Referenced in seattlepi.com Seattle's online newspaper March 2010	Reviewed in Barbara Feldman's column "Surfing the Net with Kids" February 2010
Featured in boston.com, the Boston Globe online February 2010	Listed as a reference in the New York Times online - February 2010
Featured in the film Charles Dickens's England starring Derek Jacobi October 2009	Featured in The Library of Congress's Learning Page - October 2009
Featured in "The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens." - October 2009	Acknowledged in Charles Dickens's England October 2009
Acknowledged in Dan Simmons novel Drood - 2009	Listed as a resource for PBS Dickens Masterpiece Classics - 2009
Worked with the Dickens Museum to create the Dickens 2012 Web site October 2008	Encyclopedia Britannica - Best Web sites 2008
Linked from PBS Bleak House January 2006	Rated 5 stars January 2006
A Roman Polanski film Partnered with TriStar Pictures for promotional and educational materials September 2005	Association of American Geographers Places OnLine 2005 Best Web Site Award April 2005
My Dickens London Map used as an illustration in the Barnes and Noble edition of Bleak House - 2005	Acknowledged in The Annotated Christmas Carol by Michael Patrick Hearn - 2004
Linked from PBS "Dickens" December 15, 2003	Good Housekeeping Magazine Site of the Day December 18, 2002
Featured in About-Internet for Beginners April 15, 2002	Rated A+ by Education World Site Review May 8, 2002
Linked from KidGrid March 2002	Featured on Education on the Internet April 2002
Included in Art Bridge December 2001	Featured at iHigh.com December 19, 2001
Top Five Web Sites June 2001	Selected for inclusion in Länkskafferiet Swedish Schoolnet October 2001
3AW Radio - Melbourne, Australia Weekly Top 5 Sites April 2001	BBC - Top 3 Arts sites of the Week June 2001
Linked from CBC.CA Steve King: The Ghost of Christmas Past December 22, 2000	Selected by ISI for Current Web Content January 2001
Site Review December 21, 2000	Linked from CNN.com Richard Blystone: How the Scrooge saved Christmas - December 21, 2000
BBC-Education Scotland Site of the Month December 2000	Featured Site December 2000
Linked from CliffsNotes December 2000	BBC - Pick of the Day December 17, 2000
Webmaster's Picks November 2000	Editor's Choice Award December 2000
Featured Sites October 2000	Linked from L'Encyclopedie De L'Agora November 2000
The Scout Report September 2000	Linked from the PBS Oliver Twist Site September 2000
WEB FEET Subject Guide to the Best Web Sites July 2000	Linked by India's Best Children's Site - Appu Kids August 2000
Microsoft Network Encarta Learning Zone Best Web Sites - March 2000	Featured in the Sunday Times of London - March 12, 2000
Listed in FanSites.com February 2000	Listed in Comptons Encyclopedia Online - March 2000
Britannica.com - Best of the Internet - February 2000	Featured in the BBC Web Guide - February 2000
Cleveland Municipal School District Web Sites of the Month December 1999	Virtual Australia Christmas Web Award for excellence - January 2000
Linked from Disney's Oliver Twist site June 1999	Too Cool School Site of the Week - October 1999
Blue Rose Award - February 1999	Links 2 Go Award - May 1999